


Neo City

by paralleltales



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Nightclub, Alternate Universe - Police, Angst, Character Development, Gen, Humor, Illegal Activities, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Plot, Psychological Horror, Swearing, Tags May Change, Tokyo (City), a little too original, appearances from Twice's J-line, cheesy song references, features from red velvet, gang gang gang, general dickishness, glitchy tv screens because i love the aesthetic and play too much persona, honestly only exists because i want it to, i attempt psych horror, i love nct dream why do i hurt them in this, it be like that sometimes, tokyo music scene wow edgy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-01 05:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14513226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paralleltales/pseuds/paralleltales
Summary: Taeyong, Ten, Doyoung, Jaehyun and Mark are the founders of Neo City, a club that's become a flourishing garden for alternative artists in Tokyo- and a hotbed of Illicit activity.Haechan, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Chenle and Jisung are a new band named Dream, who are desperate for Mark to let them perform at Neo City for exposure.Jungwoo, Lucas and Kun are the new kids in town, looking for a place to work and possibly take them on as a band.Taeil and Johnny are determined to take down Neo City and its founders- Nakamoto Yuta is the heir who's going to help them.Winwin just wants to teach his dance class on time, for once.Or alternatively: Some guys, some music, some horrific happenings.





	1. Smells Like Teen Spirit

**** Taeyong had just laughed when his parents told him that living oversees was the hardest thing a person could do. 

A year later, with a degree in music production that didn’t mean shit where he was, nibbling on the last Lotus biscuit from the packet he had opened half an hour ago, he was beginning to believe them. 

He looked over to the couch for some semblance of support from his roommates, before promptly realising that Jaehyun had ascended to another level of hungover-ness that was previously unknown to mankind. Doyoung was gone and, wherever he was, he was doing something illegal. Ten was out too, probably being a deviant and disappointing Jesus. Mark was… Hopefully at university? He never really knew what Mark did during the day.

It was just him and their cranky bar wizard- Jaehyun refused to be called otherwise when it came to business- meeting with Nakamota Yuta, one of the single most important business heirs in Japan. Neo City was just a little shack in the corner of Shinjuku, no different to any other seedy club in the red light district. Yet, they had somehow acquired a reputation as an avant-guard hotspot, and a launchpad for alt-jpop bands looking to crack the mainstream. Why they thought their so called _big shot_ was a 1,500 square foot shit-show in a Shinjuku corner run by a bunch of immigrants (one of whom was still in university, another of whom dropped out of university) was past him. What was also past him was _the_ Nakamoto Yuta found out about it.

Jaehyun was awake and glaring, what he did best. For his short temper, unsavoury attitude, zealous heckling and general nastiness, Jaehyun was actually an enjoyable person and an extremely talented bartender. So talented in fact, that he had taken to distilling Neo City’s trademark raspberry liquor in a warehouse near the club. Taeyong rarely prayed, but when he did, that damn warehouse was always on his mind- the authorities would kick his ass over it. He met Jae back in high school, and assumed that his moodiness was a phase. Lord above was he wrong, and he could feel a snarky comment coming.

“If you so desperately wished to eye-fuck me, couldn’t you have done it while I was passed out?”

“Not every human alive is attracted to you Jaehyun, even if your numerous one-night stands have led you to believe otherwise.”

“I am well and truly shocked, Lee Taeyong! Here I was thinking that even your blind ass could see that I _am_ the centre of the universe-”

“If you were sober more often, your vision would be even clearer,”

“Touché.”

Why wasn’t Yuta here yet? Anything for this conversation to end.

As Taeyong sunk his head into the pillows and grumbled, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic over Neo City’s beginnings.A pet project that originally started off as Taeyong and Doyoung’s freshman year of uni fantasy. At some point, Jaehyun found out about it while digging through their dorm drawers (he barely lasted a month before dropping out) and told them to call if they ever needed a bartender. Ten joined in because, to quote the man himself, “Shinjuku? Your boy’s about to get laid.” 

Jaehyun got in on the plan, and soon enough they were packing for Japan. They had gotten the space for free, as it had been a host club that the owner was trying his best to avoid being associated with it. After traversing some junkyards and many crêpe-and-coffee powered days, they had found everything needed to build their Neo City. Except, a single piece Doyoung insisted they commission from one of Ten’s “contacts” (aka one of the numerous people he had slept with). A blue neon sign, with a single eye proclaiming in typewriter font:

**“UNLOCK YOUR 7TH SENSE”**

The phrase had become synonymous with Neo City, and was plastered above the glass staircase leading into the main lounge. The eye was also on their stage, to the point where the five of them- they had been their own performers for a while at the start, and called themselves NCT U- had adopted the eye as their symbol. If you came to Neo City, you were leaving with some part of you enlightened. There was no such thing as a “one time thing” there, if you joined, you were Neo City’s newest resident. Something about Jaehyun’s drinks, Doyoung’s charm, Taeyong’s awkwardness, Ten’s inappropriate humour and Mark’s talent made people stay for good

A single knock at the door. Yuta had arrived.

He had tried to clean the apartment, he really had, but there was only so much you could do when five people lived in a one-bed-one-bath apartment and one of them was an on-again-off-again alcoholic. Along with Ten messing up the couch due to his… Exploits. The place never truly felt clean, and in the five seconds it took to get up and open the door, he had never felt the need to jump out of the window more intensely.

—

Contrary to what many believed, Jaehyun _could_ be civil. Charismatic even. He was beyond sure that his extremely unlikeable personality came from his years of being paraded at dinner parties togaggle upon gaggle of botoxed faces and fake smiles, the places where he was sure that his resentment of _people_ had begun. It was only furthered when he grew older, louder and less adorable, and he waslabeled a “problem child”- that was when he started to truly hate people. He saw it fitting to act within the confines of such a label, and it naturally followed him throughout life. Of course he was the first of his brothers to discover smoking, the first to start driving, start drinking and more. He was the “wild” one. Young Jaehyun was quiet, bookish and charming. Adult Jaehyun was loud, illiterate and coarse.

Sometimes he wondered what would’ve been had he gone and worked as a host- he sure as hell was handsome enough to do it, the job would’ve paid more and he wouldn’t have to put up with everyone's crap. But, painful as it was to admit, Neo City was a family and he craved having all of the others around. Not that he’d ever admit it.

His eyes slid to Yuta- and fuck, he was _hot_.


	2. Baby One More Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I shamelessly force the fact that Winwin is NCT Dream's mum onto a l l of you. Also God is a woman named Myōui Mina

“Please, Mark!” Jaemin’s eyes were sparkly and wide, as if he was sure that enough begging would break him. 

“Absolutely not! A, you’re all minors, B, we’re under enough legal scrutiny as it is and uh, C. You’re _minors_! Reason enough! Discussion. Over.”

“Don’t make me bring in Donghyuk.”

“I’ve already been broken. Try me.” 

“You think he can’t fuck you up further?”

“I’d like to think he still has a soul. Now drink your strawberry milk you  _toddler_.”

And with that (plus an apologetic ¥1000 from Mark), Jaemin left in a huff. With his strawberry milk in hand, of course.

It was an honest to God miracle that Takeshita’s Crêpes hadn’t banned the 7 of them yet. Granted Renjun was asleep right now- but he was always asleep. Donghyuk was mad at him, because he had done something apparently. Chenle... Was possibly with Winwin? He had pestered Winwin into being his dance mentor, the least he could do was show up to the lessons before he beat his ass. Jeno was sitting down across from him, concerned like the actual angel he was, Jisung was glued to his phone and typing away, a true fuckboy-in-training. 

“Whoever the girl is this time, tell her you have to go, Jisung.”

“The  _girl_  is my truancy officer, Mark.”

“Lord above, you’re going to be expelled if you keep this up.”

“That’s kind of the pla- Sakura! She texted back!”

“Was she the one who you took to the spring dance?” 

“No, but she is the one who’s coming to see us perform at Neo City on Friday.” He added a sly wink.

“Won’t she get the shock of her life when she finds out that  _the_  Mark Lee has already said you can’t fucking perform?”

“Just once! Think of the exposure Dream could get!”

“Think of how hard your mother will beat you when she finds out that you’re disobeying your truancy officer.”

Mark often wondered if Jisung, Jaemin and Chenle had been serial school skippers before they had met Mark. Part of him wanted to say that it was just their nature. A deeper part knew that he was the reason they wanted Dream to do well and become mainstream. Jeno and Renjun were here since they had study leave- but Jisung had called in claiming the flu, and was desperately googling doctor’s offices nearby to prove that  _yes, he wasn’t skipping again_. Jaemin wasn’t quite there yet.

“HI!” A static voice filtered from Jaemin’s phone speaker.

“Chenle? Where  _are_ you?” Jisung was either annoyed or poking him- or both.

“Winwin’s! He said I need to show up whenever he calls or he tells my parents where I go on weekends.”

“Why did he call you? Your lessons are on Saturdays.” Jaemin was pouting.

And Chenle, wholly unaware of Mark’s presence replied:

“He wants me to dance for someone’s performance at Neo City,” then some muffled whispering-“Oh my God! Not someone- Myōui Mina!” 

Mark was furious. Winwin co-ordinated every performance at Neo City, and Mark had repeated to him that under no circumstances were Dream allowed to take part in a performance for their safety.

“Could you guys excuse me for a minute?” He rushed to bathroom without a word and smashed Winwin’s number into his phone.

— 

Winwin was tired, stiff and about ready to cry. As rough and angry as he was with Chenle, he wanted him to succeed and didn’t want to cancel any of their sessions, even with 12 stitches on a gash in his right hip. Then Mark had to call.

“So your brilliant idea for Mina’s performance was to let Chenle join?” He could feel anger radiating from the speakers.   


Normally he would yell back or say something rude, but he understood being protective, and instead used his Gentle Teacher voice, the voice he used when calming down kids who had just bumped their heads- and their legally apt parents.

“Mina asked for a partner, and most of my other dance partners were busy. I wanted to give the kid a chance- he deserves it.” 

“He’s sixteen- he has a world of chances. You’re doing the duo, Dong Sicheng.”

“How am I meant to tell him?”

“Find a way.” With that, he hung up. 

He found Chenle still in the studio, stretching, and decided to break it to him. Like ripping off a band-aid, short and painful. Except he was telling a sixteen year old that his best friend was taking away the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Hey kid?”

“Yes, teacher?” His eyes genuinely sparkled.

“I’m gonna be frank, I don’t want to do this, but I’m under Mark’s thumb. He doesn’t want you performing with Mina.”

“Why? This is was _my_ chance to get my name out there- to get Dream’s name out there.“ He was starting to tear up.

“I know kid, I know. If it were up to me you’d be learning the choreography right now. But NCT U’s club, NCT U’s rules.”

“Hey teacher?”

“Yeah, Le?” 

“Am I allowed to cry a little?”

“If I were you, I would’ve broken down by now.”

With Chenle balled up on his chest crying, he couldn’t help but feel like Mark was doing more harm than good. 

Chenle eventually left, finally convinced that he at least had to attend his afternoon subjects (he had math, which Winwin knew for a fact that he was failing) and started to get ready for the next class. It was just another group of kids- he had no clue why parents trusted him, he had always been seen as a baby by those around him- and he had to get all his anger and bitterness out, lest he run the risk of snapping at _another_ child. He barely had enough money to run the place- let alone some for legal fees. Maybe he could invest his Neo City money in a location that wasn’t actually fucking cursed.

For now though, he just needed to set up a performance worthy of a rising star- and one that wouldn’t leave him spasming from pain.

A text from the woman of the hour had arrived. 

“FYI, I’m performing Circus, so make what you will of it xx”

Great. A dance break. He grunted and started brainstorming.


	3. Loser

Yuta could feel how out of place he was in the apartment, YSL suit and all. It didn’t exactly read as a place intended for comfort- even the cactus by the windowsill was dying a slow and surely painful death. He almost felt bad- feigning interest in a business venture when he was just helping Taeil and Johnny shut Neo City down once and for all. The two sitting in front of him weren’t the ones he was meant to be talking to, Taeil had specifically asked for Doyoung and Ten, claiming that they were behind the various questionable activities happening there. While the place itself was fine, the activities they let fly in their backrooms were very much illegal.

If you could think of the drug, Doyoung could get it for you- and get you a room to try it in. If you wanted somebody to spend the night with, that was Ten’s port of call.

Yuta had nothing against either of them, but for the sake of making sure the Nakamoto name wasn’t dragged through the mud -due to how they’d become so influential in the first place- he was going along with it. The two investigators seemed passionate enough, but there were moments where he could tell that they had personal ties to the people involved, and that they were second guessing themselves. He’d even heard Johnny wistfully wish that Ten hadn't gotten involved, and Taeil fawning over how adorable Neo City’s performance coordinator (Winwin was his name, if he had heard correctly) was. Would they really lock up everyone involved? Or rather, was this investigation’s purpose to warn them of what the higher-ups would do, and help cover their tracks? Yuta didn’t care enough to know.

Those six words were an accurate summation of his life for the past seven or so years. Since the age of sixteen, he had all but disconnected from reality. It wasn’t a distaste for people or a fear of the unknown. Simply that the switch that was keeping him human had flipped one day, and now feeling anything was a chore- even things that should’ve made him happy. Or things that should’ve made him feel sad.

“Happy”. “Sad”. Why did we, as humans, agree on giving chemical reactions in the brain such stupid names, and assign times where we absolutely had to feel those things or we were awful people? Someone could sit in the back of a wedding absolutely furious and miserable because the groom was their ex, and likewise somebody could be at a funeral absolutely giddy because they finally got promoted at work. In Yuta’s eyes, both were perfectly acceptable. Not in society’s eyes though.

He had once had a therapist when he was younger, who had told him that all feelings were equal. But even back then, Yuta knew humans couldn’t keep anything equal for long. Soon he discovered that feelings like _I really want to slash something open right now_ and _I’m annoyed that my uncle is finally getting married because I’ll have to go to his boring ass wedding_ were not equal to other emotions. They were pretty much taboo. But the real taboo when it came to feelings was not feeling anything at all. Being an empty vessel. Which he just had to have the luck of being- yay.

But looking into the eyes of the two owners sitting in front of him, he couldn’t help but think that they had felt that way at some point as well- maybe they still were drifting around like him, looking for a purpose. Perhaps Neo City was a means to fill that void? Who knew what went on in the mind of a criminal. Or a millennial. A crimillenial?

Back to the two crimellenials then.

Taeyong wasn’t exactly tall- but he wasn’t short either. You could say average, but he didn’t seem average. His hair was comma-styled and dyed an eye gouging shade of red. One of his eyebrows had a slit in it that looked too clean to be real and he was dressed in what Yuta estimated to be about 6 layers of clothing. If he didn’t have the eyes of a deer and a jawline sharp enough to slice diamonds he’d be a lost cause. Despite looking cold and aloof- something about him felt childish. Maybe it was his resemblance to Reno from Final fantasy or his permanently shiny eyes, something about him made Yuta feel guilty about what he was doing. Made him want to protect Taeyong.

Jaehyun on the other hand, was irrevocably handsome- disgustingly handsome. He was the type of person that you gawked at in the streets while assuming that he was either a) extremely famous or b) going to be extremely famous in the future. He was the type of person that went viral from a tweet and ended up on a Vogue cover. Or he would be that type of person, if he wasn’t extremely unlikeable. He wasn’t rude or self-centred. Nor was he obnoxious or loud. He wasn’t even condescending or dismissive- he just had an aura that made it seem like he wanted to repel people. Judging by how he felt about him after barely 3 lines of dialogue from him, it was working exceedingly well. But was he one to judge? At least Jaehyun had enough in him to wish for something regarding people- Yuta just stared at them vacantly. Memorising eyes, noses, smiles, voices- but never having any thoughts regarding or about them.

But now wasn’t the time for yearning or staring at the cutest boy he had ever seen. It was time to get down to business.

“Despite what you seem to think,” he began “Neo City is the type of place Nakamoto industries invests in all the time- we simply do so behind closed doors.” A blatant lie.

“And we have reason to believe you because?” Jaehyun interjected, because of course he was going to.

Yuta sighed. Did he feel bad that he was about to tell an elaborate web of lies that none of Neo City’s owners would have the resources to investigate? No. But it was the thought that counted, and Yuta thought that there was an alternate universe where he did feel bad about what they were doing- so it counted. He threw a folder onto their truly ugly excuse of a coffee table and a picture slid out. Jaehyun's eyes went wide after seeing who it was, but Taeyong had no reaction. As expected.

The picture in question was the Mariposa Lounge -a famed brothel that had been shut down around the time of Neo City’s inception. Except it was still under construction in the picture that had fallen out. No-one knew where it had come from, nor who had actually invested in it. Neither did Yuta- but Johnny and Taeil had insisted that Jaehyun and Taeyong wouldn’t ask questions.

He took a deep breath, both to steady himself and show the devious duo that he was willing to take his time with them.

“The Mariposa Lounge was one of our largest investments,” A bare faced lie. “When it shut down, we suffered an intense loss.” Another -you guessed it- lie. “But Nakamoto industries has learned from our mistakes- and Neo City won’t end the same way. It won’t end at all.” He swallowed deeply, fully aware that he was destroying someone’s hard work. A place that five people his age had built from the ground up. Suddenly, Yuta felt something for the first time in quite a while.

Guilt. Fantastic.

Jaehyun, who had been slumped over on the couch this whole time, looked up.  
“Don’t the others have to be here to take this offer?”Taeyong looked him dead in the eyes. “You know what they’d say if we were here.” He turned to Yuta. “We’ll go forward with this.”

Yuta’s eye twitched. He suddenly felt compelled to add in an extra provision.

“What if it all turns to a flaming pile of shit?” He had assumed that Jaehyun was ambivalent about most things, and what happened next shocked him ever so slightly.

“I guess we’ll just burn in it.”

This was followed by approximately six and a half minutes of awkward silence. Then Taeyong got up.

“Well, who wants Froot Loops?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> afdsghjk i'M SO SORRY THIS IS LATE finals really did kick my ass but im here now
> 
> also the ending can you tell that it's Ramadhan and im craving froot loops of all things


	4. Wannabe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i am so so sorry jungwoo baby

They were lost. So undeniably, irrevocably, lost. Jungwoo was beginning to think that his eight year long friendship with Lucas had been the cover up for an elaborate organ harvesting scheme- no wonder he was so into fitness. 

“Lucas, put that map down right now.” Kun rarely expressed emotion in general- so to see him angry was terrifying.  
“I swear- I’ve got it. It should be here!” Lucas’s voice was practically squeaking with desperation.

Jungwoo tuned out the rest of their argument- the two of them couldn’t be civil for longer than an hour. They had been walking through Shinjuku (carrying all of their equipment on their backs, specifically his back) with no clue as to where their destination actually was. They could quite literally have made it down to Okinawa with the amount of walking they’d done from their new fifth-hand apartment. Whenever he had his headphones in, the rest of the world knew to fuck off. The fact that there was a single, universal sign that meant “Don’t talk to me” warmed the depths of his heart. Humans could truly find any way to be asocial, and he appreciated that. Some people found comfort in alcohol, others in indecency.  
He found it in blasting Shoot Me by Day6 into his ears at full volume while praying for his eardrums to burst. If only to stop having to listen to the bickering behind him. He sprawled out on the bench, and for a minute, it was like he was a kid again. An adolescent street rat who spent his days hanging around the shadier parts of Daegu, just doing what the older boys told him to do.

In that sense, Shinjuku felt familiar. Seedy dealings and dangerous people had surrounded him his whole life, to the point where any place that claimed to be 100% safe simply amplified his anxiety. Humans just couldn’t make anything 100% safe. Maybe it could be for a few days or months or even years- but not forever. Never forever. Someone would be murdered, raped or mugged, and others would pretend to feel bad while secretly being relieved that it hadn’t happened to them. It was how the brain worked and there was no point in pretending otherwise. At the end of the day, unless someone was beyond selfless, people would always prioritise themselves. There was nothing wrong with it- we were just conditioned to think that there was.

After all, if he were gone- who would stop Kun and Lucas from stabbing each other? Who would leave our breadcrumbs for pigeons? Who would be the only person that cleaned that god-forsaken apartment? Everyone had a place, whether others liked it or not.

He opened his eyes for just a second, to take in what was around him. Broken down buildings, girls in fishnets trying their hardest to make him pay attention, signs with the neon literally leaking out of them and more. Not exactly where he had envisioned a Neo City. Even if the scene was reminiscent of back home, he still felt uneasy. Almost as if something inherently sinister was creeping around the corner. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. For what? To snatch away some unassuming Korean boy and sell him on the streets? Or possess him to make him actually feel things and then throw his soul into a machine that fueled the underground?

Christ, that was a little too specific. He’d be scared of his own subconscious if he had the energy left. He didn’t want to think about how all the lights in the street  were seemingly focusing on him. He didn’t want to think about how his anxiety was slowly but surely escalating. And he certainly didn’t want to think about the shadow that was creeping up on him and oh my god there was a shadow creeping up on him- 

The flash of pain he felt next was near indescribable- something he could never bring himself to wish upon someone else. It was like his heart had been ripped from his chest but was somehow still beating. It was as if every bone in his body had shattered and the tiny shreds were stabbing everything else. But most of all, it was a hollow pain. It was a pain in which nothing was real, in which the human mind couldn’t process it anymore and just shut down instead.   
Then, he knew. Knew that some kind of chain had been cut. Whatever tethered the ‘essence’ of Jungwoo to his body had been slashed. He watched himself get up and pull the map away from Lucas- but wasn’t he dead? Then he saw it- his iris. It was a strange metallic grey, almost too perfect. Almost fake.

Something was controlling his body- something that had kicked him out of the only home was ever guaranteed. It didn’t seem like it was something harmful- simply something that was doing what it was told. His ears were ringing yet there seemed to be no sound anywhere. The panic had set in, and the blood was slowly draining from his body. His head -though no longer completely real- was spinning, and his hypothetical legs had gone to jelly. The world was becoming foggy, and the other “him” was talking to Kun and Lucas.

“Yukhei! Yukhei, that’s not me!” He screamed himself hoarse. Lucas didn’t respond.

“Kun! Please, listen to me!” He was cut off from the outside world completely.

And so, the now incorporeal Jungwoo curled up into a ball and cried as many tears as he wished- there was no fear of dehydration after all.

————

Kun was uneasy. He wasn’t used to places like this- wasn’t used to having to look over his shoulder at all times and watch his own back. He was just doing what Jungwoo told him and Lucas to do- but Jungwoo had been passed out on the bench for the past half hour. That is, until he suddenly jolted upwards and grabbed the map out of their hands. He’d had his angry outbursts at time, but he didn’t seem angry. Just... Methodical? As if someone had turned a switch on within him.

“Jungwoo, what are you doing?” Kun was worried.

Jungwoo smiled a little too sweetly and said, “Don’t worry.”

Had Jungwoo been wearing grey contacts that morning? Kun was too tired to remember.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh yeah That's All Folks one day this AU'll be a webcomic- but for now let me know what you think :) updates will be sporadic but frequent


End file.
